FTE 2007 ‘Complicating Vocation’: Camp Start

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Jun 18 0
  • The Fund for Theological Education

Camp is about to begin. The campers will arrive in 2 hours, which is good. We have the normal camp beginning issues: campers moving around between cabins for “dynamics” purposes, counselors creating lists of ‘last-minute’ items they forgot to bring … you know … the normal stuff! We also have the abnormal beginning issues: Kentucky is in a drought season, and the water levels are so low that all water needs to be boiled before drinking. :(

This week of vocational reflection/observation/conversation is going to be especially fun since I’m without a bunch of my normal technology. I’m taking pictures, I’m blogging, and I have internet access … but I don’t have cell phone reception. My life doesn’t revolve around digital elements this week. :)

More to come …

FTE 2007 ‘Complicating Vocation’: Section Update

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Jun 13 0
  • The Fund for Theological Education

I wish I could count the number of times people have asked me in the last three days, “so, what’d you do today?” It feels to guilty describing it. Even though I’ve done the Vacation Bible School photos, I’ve attended a Lectionary group of pastors, and even reinvigorated and created friendships, I still feel guilty about it:

Most of my time this week was sucked away by the computer. I’ve been updating the FTE 2007 section of my website. As a great friend said about updating one’s own blog: “it just feels so narcissistic.” And in a sense, it is narcissistic!

I’ve added some key functionality to my site. I can now embed my photo galleries directly from Picasa’s Web Albums instead of unnecessarily uploading the individual pictures to my server first. I love Web 2.0 … the necessary simplicity is JUST PLAIN COOL! I’ve also setup my Podcast, so that once I capture some audio (for sure there’ll be some in the next two days just introducing my project) — once I capture some audio individuals’ iTunes will automatically download them!

Now that I’ve setup the framework for delivering my summer content, I’m ready to start distributing … once I discover the content. Here’s a preview of one of my most-recent discoveries:

Mickey Anders is an incredibly intuitive pastor. He’s self-motivated, and for some reason, he’s able to see through personalities and find creative ways to enable people. Take me, for instance. Mickey through the week has seen what South Elkhorn CC projects I’ve ‘tabled’ or inadvertantly neglected. I didn’t think he’d noticed, but he has; however, Mickey doesn’t continually harass me about them … he notices the projects I finish quickly and comes up with more projects within those areas. (I need to admit at this point that I REALLY do want to do most of them — I just keep forgetting …) Today Mickey shocked me by asking me to come up with Sunday bulletin covers for the next six Sundays and then to show him resources for when I’m gone. I LOVE IT. He showed me some prior material from his laptop and gave examples of what he didn’t like. It’s creative busy-work … but it’s also teaching me a ton. He’s probably not explicit about how he uses his method of latching onto the enthusiasm and prodding that enthusiasm — but he does it … and it works. This trait is something you can’t teach; even still – Mickey’s a great model of it.

FTE 2007 ‘Complicating Vocation’: Arrived in Lexington

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Jun 10 0
  • The Fund for Theological Education

There are SO many thoughts going through my head. I’ve done what feels like four life transitions all within a 24-hour period. Even though it’s not that dramatic, it still feels that way.

This morning I packed up my room at DDH and put it in my car. Yes, those of you who know the quaintness of my car are probably laughing; I was too, once I got everything packed into it. With the exception of the books and clothes my parents and I had already taken home to Iowa, and with the exception of the contents of my 3-foot cubed storage unit in the basement of DDH, it ALL fit into my car. This brings the first random thought taxiing in my head: I have too much unnecessary ‘stuff.’ It’s all useful, but it clutters way too much.

My summer officially began once my car door closed for the last time before my 6-hour drive. Almost. There’s still a paper I’m finishing, as well as another non-class related project for the Ministry Program … but other than that, my summer officially began. Next random thought: it was not my smartest move to begin my intense summer with the paper looming over me. It will undoubtedly bring more concentration (for some reason I concentrate more in all activities when I have more to do), but the stress will grow as well.

I arrived in Lexington at 9pm – a whole two hours later than I originally planned. One of those hours was the unplanned packing delay this morning; the other hour was an easily forgettable concept called a time zone. When I got to Indiana and had the new time zone I knew that I would be driving in to Lexington at sunset rather than dinner time. And it was as gorgeous and as peaceful as I couldn’t have planned.

Mickey Anders
The first part of my FTE summer is shadowing/teaching/befriending a minister named Mickey Anders. Mickey is the pastor at South Elkhorn Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Lexington, KY. Mickey combines the [virtuous] traits of practicality, enthusiasm for new forms of ministry, and a lack of tolerance for saying no immediately (those are my observations – not his words). A friend in Kentucky, Michael Davison, and I were driving to North Carolina last summer when I was brainstorming different aspects for my FTE project. I told him I wanted something to do with Creativity … he immediately told me about Mickey. Ironically, my final approved project is a question about vocation – something I think applies to Mickey EVEN MORE than the creativity topic.

Discursive tangent: ‘Directions’
Before describing my first encounter with Mickey this trip, let me make a disclaimer: I am always susceptible to my own over-confidence in my ability with directions. This is never more apparent than my trips to Lexington, KY. I’ve driven in from three separate directions, and every time I get lost at least once. The past three trips were all nightmares when I had to add an extra half hour because I missed turns and was going without a map (“my memory’s good – right?!?”). This time I forgot to print a map before dismantling the printer in the move, so I saved it onto my computer and rechecked it twice once I was within 45 miles of Lexington. And in a proud moment, I never got lost. I knew Mickey’s house was on the fourth left I could make once I got onto the side-road from Clays Mill … and it was! (Those types of directions RARELY prove as successful as they did tonight!)

Meeting the family
When I pulled up to the house, Mickey and his 23-year-old son, Will, were waiting on the front porch. After a quick trip inside to drop my clothes in their guest room, we gathered in the living room to meet Mickey’s wife, Sarah. We talked about so much in that short hour: our plan for the week, the projects I’ll work on for South Elkhorn, the interview Mickey will do for my project, our family histories and current life situations, and even more topics that I’ll undoubtedly remember as they resurface.

There was a key moment when I got the “giddy” feeling that several people accuse me of (too sparingly, in their opinions). I’ve had trouble describing the goals of my summer and the many activities to people who ask without their attention waning once I get to the activities at the end of July — they have trouble seeing the coherency. Mickey, Will and Sarah focused their attention the entire time. The giddy moment came when I was describing how all of my hobbies have affected how God is calling me to serve … and how the hobbies are part of that service; Will interjected: “Dad, that’s like you with sailing and how you’ve started the Sailing camp!” [“Bingo!” I thought]. I wish I’d been recording the audio and images of that conversation. It’s priceless to have someone else grasp the connection before I even elucidate it. (Teachers have to love it the scarce times it happens in my classes.)

Well, church starts early tomorrow and I’m setting up a bunch of my equipment so I’ll be ready to work for the rest of the week. Each night we have Vacation Bible School, for which I’m doing a bunch of media work. And we have about three different video segments I’m going to create for South Elkhorn to use later in the summer. This is not going to be the relaxed pace I need to concentrate on finishing that paper … but it’ll still happen. AHH! — I’m excited now — time to quit blogging for the night!

1000:1 Ducks

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Jun 4 0
  • 1000:1
It’s that time of year … again … and again. The beauty of the quarter system is that you only have to manage three classes instead of five at any given time; the hideousness is having three Exam weeks instead of the normal two. I’ve completed one class and have a take-home exam (21 pages) and a final paper (15 pages) to finish by Friday. Actually, the exam is due Tuesday … and I’ll have it done!

On Thursday I had several meetings which, as much as I tried, couldn’t fit into any orderly schedule. (I had an in-class final the next day (Friday) and the stress was starting to get to me.) As I walked outside in the rain, I was jolted by a calming scene:

Some of the uneven concrete on the University of Chicago campus filled to become little puddles during the afternoon rain. In one of the puddles, in the middle of the street in the campus’ “Quad,” were two calm ducks. The puddle couldn’t have been more than three inches deep, but that didn’t stop them from floating around in it.

The ducks were so peaceful. I was jealous. So I rushed back to the Disciples House and picked up my digital camera to come get a picture; and when I got back … the ducks were gone. Normally such an absence would simply result in me shrugging my shoulders and walking back while I etched the memory in hopes of not forgetting it. But this time I needed to see them again.

A random blog post I’d read earlier in the week (and I’ve searched, but can’t find it again!) compared the practice of blogging as similar to being a duck. Ducks ALWAYS look peaceful when gliding across the water. Even when ruffling their feathers or traversing small waves, they still maintain their grace. Under the water, however, their feet paddle in a chaotic frenzy to make their bodies above the water use such grace. This blogger likened this to the constant receptivity necessary for blogging — bloggers have to keep discovering new ways to chart their experience and put it into words or other media.

I think the comparison works well for Divinity School students — especially for me on that day. Thursday I was at my prime: I was consciously trying to be personable, I seemed to be full of answers (which is unusual — especially since coming to Chicago), I had enough control over my time to adapt seamlessly, and I was visibly enjoying life. And yet there was chaos present. It was hidden behind the layers of success people saw. More on this later … now back to the story:

So, after five minutes of walking up and down the center of the Quad, I took a chance and walked over to the lily pool near 57th street. Sure enough, the ducks were still waddling on the grass as they made their way back to the pool. I crept behind them at a distance, occasionally kneeling, and taking pictures of the tail end of their journey. Then they maneuvered under the iron fence and sat on the grass beside the lip of the pool. Luckily, someone else enjoyed watching them too and our combined presence (by that point I’d walked around the fence and was near the ducks as well) … our combined presence caused the ducks to prepare to embark into the water.

Of the thirty images from the five minutes I stood by the ducks, this picture is my favorite. Each duck would drop his head into the water for a drink, but they wouldn’t do it at the same time … except for the shot above.

So to get back to the chaos in my life at that point: I am behind on several projects in which I’m devoting my time. Some of them are ‘school’ projects and others are connected with my Fellowship for this summer (and the prep. work I’m doing prior to starting to make the end result better) and with church groups. Those all contribute to a constant hum that reverberates through my schedule. But there’s also a deeper issue. I’m tired of books.

I didn’t want to publicly admit it (even though my classmates have heard it for weeks): I’m tired of books. It’s not even the content that is bugging me anymore. I’m tired of academic writers who don’t capture my attention instantly. I realize that’s an unfair burden to put on those writers, but they’re competing with the headline writers for CNN and the New York Times, and Apple’s Hot News. This year I’ve been put through so many bad writers (they’re historical … so it’s a doubly-unfair standard) that I sometimes wish I was studying Computer Science or Media Arts just to keep my attention focused on one thing. Then again … those two fields are notably some of the worst for producing expositional word-based texts. (Their working documents are worse reads than the phone book).

And on that note … you can see that the quarter is ending, life is transitioning, and the cleansing of all my academic baggage is finally beginning. It’s the perfect time to finesse the sensible words these papers require.

My encounter with ducks ended with as much of a jolt as it began. They stayed on the lip of the pool and “did their thing.” But a woman approached and held out her camera phone.

“Don’t you just love these?” she asked.

“Definitely,” I replied, “I couldn’t believe it when I saw them in the street earlier.”

“They were over there? Wow … I stop at least once a week at the pool to see them when I’m extra-stressed. I’m so used to them being here. People are never able to grasp what I mean when I describe the peace these ducks give me. Every stop is worth the time.”

As I walked off, I realized how true it is: “every stop is worth the time.” Amidst the chaos I learn to adapt in order to make the rest of me appear peaceful, there is also the effect on others. Every stop is worth the time — for those who I’ve caused to stop and stare — and especially for those who have caused the same with me … thank you.